Server 2008

Using SFC (System File Checker) To Repair Server 2008 Issues

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Both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 include the System File Checker (SFC) tool. Previous operating systems included this tool also. This discussion is specific to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. If you would like more information on previous operating systems see the following KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310747.

SFC scans and checks all Windows Resource Protected (WRP) resources. Windows Vista adds the following new functionality to the SFC tool:

  • Ability to scan a single file
  • Ability to scan a Windows installation offline

Common SFC Command Line Options

Here are some of the common commands you would use with SFC. Note you need to run SFC from a elevated command prompt

Scan entire system
SFC.EXE /scannow

Scan a specific file
SFC.EXE /scanfile=c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll

Verify. This scans all protected files but does not repair them
SFC.EXE /verifyonly

Help for Sfc.exe
SFC.EXE /?

One of the new features of SFC in Windows Vista/2008 is the ability to run SFC against a offline windows directory. This is most useful when you are unable to start Windows and suspect file corruption. Generally you should always try safe mode first before doing this to see if Windows can start. To use SFC in offline mode you do the following

  1. Boot from your Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 DVD
  2. On the first screen of Setup choose Next
  3. In the lower left of the screen choose “repair your computer”
  4. On the System Recovery Options screen choose your installation of Windows and then click next
  5. Click “Command prompt”
  6. Type in the following command: SFC.EXE /scannow /offbootdir=c:\ /offwindir=c:\windows
  7. When complete type in exit to see if Windows starts up now.

Advanced users may want to see what SFC is repairing on a system. When SFC runs it logs it’s actions to C:\WINDOWS\LOGS\CBS\CBS.LOG. You can find SFC specific entries by searching on [SR]. See http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928228 for more information.

Example of How SFC Can Fix Issues

The following is a example of how the system file checker was able to resolve a issue on my own computer. The issue I encountered was that When I would go into disk management my disks would show up but none of the information such as the type of disk, size, active/boot/system, healthy, etc… would show up. I checked the system event log and found the following

Capture

FMIFS.DLL is obviously a file used by disk management to display this information. If I look up the error code C1 it resolves to ERROR_BAD_EXE_FORMAT. So at this point I suspect that this file is corrupt. From within Windows I run the following command:

SFC.EXE /scannow

It runs and says that it has repaired files. To verify I look in the C:\WINDOWS\LOGS\CBS\CBS.LOG and see the following entries

Capture2

From this you can tell that SFC compared the hash for fmifs.dll and found it wasn’t correct. It restored the backup from c:\windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft-windows-fmifs_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.16386_none_54d7af8934ac24f1. After running SFC I was now able to open disk management and see my disk information.

Hopefully this helps explain how SFC can help you resolve problems on your computer and shows how Microsoft is committed to making Windows easier to fix when issues do occur.

Author:
Scott McArthur
Support Escalation Engineer
Enterprise Platforms Support

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Google Voice

Activate Google Voice Voicemail on the AT&T iPhone 4s

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Google VoiceWe recently changed back to AT&T for our wireless carrier from Verizon for the iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 launch. After a pretty bad mix-up with Sprint (they tried porting the Google Voice number that we use) shutting down our VoIP network for almost 3 hours while things got situated, we decided to give AT&T a second shot. Little did we know that with the release of Apple iOS 5 and iOS 6 that the Google Voice app would be completely out of commission.

Since we also use a VoIP line here at the office, once they released the updated app today for Google Voice, we had to remove our old number since Google recognized it at Verizon and add it back in. One of the critical things that we do is use our mobile phones for voice since Google Voice will transcribe the messages into both e-mail and text messages and send them to us as soon as a client or potential customer calls us. It’s a great way to get at least the gist of what the message is before you even have to call someone back and can save time in getting a problem or question resolved when there’s not a ticket.

So what’s the magical code to get your Google Voice number working?

(As an updated pre-text: When going to the Google Voice website and after selecting Settings for your account, the removal process or installation process may give you more precise method or instruction if this ever updates or changes.)

*004*11234567890# <– Activate a Google Voice number as Voicemail

So it’s Star 004 Star, 1 plus your area code (all of the other instructions just said without the 1, so use it!), your Google Voice number and then pound. Plenty of sites listed other methods, but this is the most recent way to activate it as of today. The instructions are all listed at https://www.google.com/voice once you add your phone, but for those of us who don’t want to add a second line, this can be helpful. You HAVE to have your number activated with Google voice.

##004# <– Deactivate a Google Voice number as Voicemail

Pound, Pound, 004 and then Pound again. Press Call and it should return everything back to the original Google Voice settings.

Here’s THE LINK to Google Voice on the Apple iTunes App Store. We hope this helps someone out there.

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PlayStation Network Back Online, No Word From Sony

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As of 6:20PM CST, we can confirm that our PS3’s are working as expected on the PlayStation Network.  All DRM/DLC, trophies and saved data is present and accounted for.  We first got word of this from Izmeiah Brown, our Lead Designer, when it broke on Gizmodo.  Still no official word from Sony, but that’s typical and to be expected.  This ability to login, however, does not mean that it won’t happen again.  Scary how they can push an update like this and shut almost 40 million systems down without no one really noticing, isn’t it.

This is a use at your own risk deal since there has been no official word from Sony yet.  We’ll let you know as soon as they start making apologies.

== UPDATE ==

Sony releases the following statement on their blog:

We are aware that the internal clock functionality in the PS3 units other than the slim model, recognized the year 2010 as a leap year. Having the internal clock date change from February 29 to March 1 (both GMT), we have verified that the symptoms are now resolved and that users are able to use their PS3 normally.

If the time displayed on the XMB is still incorrect, users are able to adjust time settings manually or via the internet. If we have new information, we will update you through the PlayStation.Blog or PlayStation.com.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

And that’s that.  They “apologize”, but fail to state exactly what they’re going to do for breaking the trust of all of the gamers WORLDWIDE.  Sure the PSN is free, but come on; The trade off is quite obvious at this point – monitoring.  We should be able to play Single Player games like Heavy Rain regardless if the PSN is online or not.  We should also be able to use our games that we downloaded without being told we stole it (basically what the error message implied).  These are the things that they should be focusing on and making Next-Gen actually Next-Gen. 

As one comment we read earlier today, you could pop in a Nintendo cartridge, and BAM you were playing the game.  Why doesn’t this work the same way today for the PS3?  And what about the people without access to the Internet?  Are they still affected?  We’ll never know because they’re completely out of touch with the rest of the living world.  Trust us, if this happens again, we’re going to make sure they answer these questions that all gamers of the PS3 deserve.

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PlayStation Users Advised to Not Use Their PS3

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A recent update from Sony PlayStation Blog stated that PlayStation users are advised to NOT use their PS3’s due to the wide-spread issue with the PlayStation Network. Here’s the direct post that they made:

As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.

We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.

Errors include:

  • The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
  • When the user tries to sign in to the PlayStation Network, the following
    message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been
    signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.
  • When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears
    on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install
    trophies. Please exit your game.”
  • When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the
    Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date
    and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
  • Users are not able to play back certain rental video downloaded from the
    PlayStation Store before the expiration date.

We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.

As mentioned above, please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologize for any inconvenience caused.

As we thought, this is the PS3 Y2K bug indeed. Let’s hope this is resolved before FFXIII comes out.

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PlayStation Network Down

PlayStation Network Down from 8001050F Error Code Recap

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As we had reported last night, the Sony PlayStation Network was (and still is) down because of an unexplained technical issue.  The issue causes an error code of 8001050F to appear upon launching any PS3 Blu-Ray Game, setting the clock back to 12/31/1999 (sounds a lot like a Y2K bug), trophy sync problems and downloaded content (DLC) to show that there are invalid copyright permissions.  This has caused a lot of headache among hundreds of thousands of gamers globally and still no update from Sony on their blog or their Twitter feed.

So, what is this? A PS3 Y2K bug? Possibly.  The error code “8001050F” is referenced to mean “Hardware failure. Cannot update firmware or connect to internet.” However, upon launching most games, players are getting a message stating “Registration of the trophy information could not be completed. The game will quit. (8001050F)”. Why would this be? Shouldn’t the PS3 work offline too? That’s what we thought. All of our offline DLC, such as Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII (PS1/PSP Playable) does not work at all. We can’t play single player games that shouldn’t rely on the Internet or not such as Heavy Rain. All we have to say is we hope that this is fixed today, and for sure before the 9th of this month, when Final Fantasy XIII releases.

Usually by this point, Sony would/should have replied…but what’s to be expected from a free network?  Our advice: If you haven’t turned on your PS3 yet, don’t. It’s tragic enough to read about and even worse to see for yourself. Last night, the topic of “playstation network crash” hit the #5 hottest trend on Google and now currently sits at #40. Wait until Sony updates their Blog or Twitter with “we’ve fixed the error”. We will keep you posted as well, so stay tuned.

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